Urbanisation is one of the most important stories of modern China. White Horse Village is a tiny farming community deep in rural China. A decade ago, it became part of the biggest urbanisation project in human history that will take half a billion farmers across the country and turn them into city-dwelling consumers. The plan decreed that White Horse Village would grow from several hundred people to a city of 200,000 in under a decade.
There's little doubt China's urbanisation is a massive social and economic gamble, but according to the Government, there's a clear logic. At present, 150 million Chinese living in regional areas must leave their families, travel to the cities to work and send money home to help their children survive and prosper. The social tension this creates is significant. To combat this problem, and to try to spread wealth across the country, the Government's plan is to dot the landscape with thousands of new cities. These centres will have new schools, universities and industrial areas all intended to deliver China a thriving, consuming middle class.
For the past 10 years, BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie has reported on the transformation of one rural community, White Horse Village, from a tiny farming community into a huge city.
There's little doubt China's urbanisation is a massive social and economic gamble, but according to the Government, there's a clear logic. At present, 150 million Chinese living in regional areas must leave their families, travel to the cities to work and send money home to help their children survive and prosper. The social tension this creates is significant. To combat this problem, and to try to spread wealth across the country, the Government's plan is to dot the landscape with thousands of new cities. These centres will have new schools, universities and industrial areas all intended to deliver China a thriving, consuming middle class.
For the past 10 years, BBC China Editor Carrie Gracie has reported on the transformation of one rural community, White Horse Village, from a tiny farming community into a huge city.
Category
🗞
News